Short Takes

Israel wants YOU!
Israel's Ministry of Tourism is asking synagogues across the country to put pledge cards on every seat during High Holy Day services next month so that congregants can commit themselves to visiting Israel sometime in the next year. The ministry's goal: 1 million American Jewish tourists.

He was the first Israeli to reach a finals event at Wimbledon. He also made a semifinal.
What's next for Andy Ram?
More of the same at the U.S. Open, says Israel's rising tennis star. Maybe a championship.

One day after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment charges after being caught in a police Internet sex sting operation, Rabbi Israel Kestenbaum said he is "incredibly thankful" that there were no victims and that he "did not in fact engage in any inappropriate things with minors."
In a phone interview Wednesday morning, Rabbi Kestenbaum, 54, of Highland Park, N.J., said he had experienced a "personal lapse on the computer for which I do not excuse myself."

An expert medical examiner has corroborated witness accounts that Gideon Busch was not charging at police when they shot him to death in a controversial August 1999 incident in Borough Park, recent court documents reveal.
Suffolk County Medical Examiner Charles Wetli, who is to testify for New York City in a civil suit this fall, told lawyers for both sides during a deposition that the hammer-wielding Busch was "standing straight when he was first shot and his upper right arm was close to his chest."

The state's Board of Law Examiners is assessing what accommodation, if any, will be made for observant Jews who may be forced to take next yearís bar exam on Tisha b'Av. The board has set up an e-mail address, tishabav@nybarexam.org, to determine how many people will be affected if the exam is held on the day of mourning, which is a fast day. Those requesting an accommodation should notify the board in writing by Oct. 10.

Just what Wall Street trader Jonathan Katz always wanted: a slice of the action.
Katz, who deals with hedge funds on weekdays, will handle pastrami and turkey on weekends this NFL season as a partner in Kosher Sports Inc., which will operate a pair of kosher food carts in Giants Stadium, in East Rutherford, N.J., during Giants and Jets game. The teams' home season starts Sunday, Sept. 7, with the Giants hosting the St. Louis Rams.